U.S. Commerce Secretary John
Bryson met with India’s Ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao to
discuss U.S.-India relations and Secretary Bryson’s upcoming trade mission to
India in March.

This was the first meeting
between Secretary Bryson and Ambassador Rao, who assumed her current
responsibilities in September 2011. Secretary Bryson and Ambassador Rao
also discussed the Department of Commerce’s extensive partnerships with the
Government of India through the Bureau of Industry and Security, the
International Trade Administration, the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Bryson plans to
lead a delegation of up to 25 U.S. senior executives on an infrastructure trade
mission to New Delhi, Jaipur, and Mumbai in March, which will focus on project
management and engineering services, transportation, and energy. India is
seeking to invest $1 trillion in its infrastructure over the next five years
and is looking for private sector participation to fund half of this expansion
through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The United States Trade and
Development Agency (USTDA), the Export-Import Bank of the United States
(Ex-Im), and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) have been
invited to join the mission.

U.S. exports to India
through November 2011 totaled $19.7 billion, an increase of 11.5 percent year
to date from 2010. India ranks as the United States’ 17th largest
export market.

Secretary Locke said, “This trade mission was a resounding success. For some companies on our trip, ‘success’ was an initial meeting or consultation with Indian government or business leaders that will lead to deals down the road. For others, success was more immediate with some companies leaving India on the cusp of making multimillion dollar sales. Either way, these companies have made important inroads into one of the most promising high-technology markets in the world.”

On Friday morning, Secretary Locke met with the executive committee of the U.S- India Importers’ Council, an initiative developed to support Indian companies that import goods and services from the United States. The mission of this Council is to advance President Obama’s National Export Initiative, and to support the efforts of Indian companies that import products from the U.S.

Locke then visited Mumbai’s legendary Dabbawala Association organization to learn about their unique logistics operation that delivers home-cooked food to hundreds of thousands of people daily. Association president Raghunath Medge provided Locke with an overview of the organization’s labeling and sorting methodology and the dispatch process. Dabbawala’s lunch delivery service has been cited as a model of entrepreneurship and supply chain management at the grass-roots level. In the afternoon, Locke engaged in multiple bilateral meetings with Indian officials.

Locke meets with Chairman Ambani of Reliance Industries and other Indian CEOs

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke returned to India’s business center today for the
final stop of his high-technology trade mission to India – which he announced
during President Obama’s trip last November. Locke is joined by a delegation of
24 U.S. businesses seeking to promote their technologies and services related to
civil nuclear energy, civil aviation, defense and homeland security, and
information and communications technology to India. Locke is the first Cabinet
secretary to travel to India after President Obama’s
visit.

At a speech he delivered to
members of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
and the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) in Mumbai, Locke highlighted the
U.S.-India commercial relationship and encouraged development of new business
opportunities between the members of the delegation and their Indian
counterparts. He also talked about the great progress India has made in opening
its markets to U.S. companies but he noted that much more work needs to be done.

“If India continues its walk down
‘the path of reform,’ if it continues to become more open to the investments and
the innovations of foreign companies – like the 24 companies I have with me this
week – it will stand a much better chance of meeting the needs of its people and
of helping to lead the global economy in the 21st century,” said Secretary
Locke. “We've made important progress this week, not just to lay the groundwork
for more sales of U.S. goods in India, but to take another real step towards
strengthening the bonds between the governments, the businesses and the people
of India and the United States.”

While in Mumbai, Locke also met
with Indian CEOs, including Chairman Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, who
are part of the U.S.-India CEO Forum as a follow up from their meeting during
President Obama’s trip to India in November. Locke solicited the group’s goals
for the 2011 forum and they discussed a wide range of critical issues, including
clean energy, standards and education.

Ed Note: Kulite is the world leader in pressure
transducer technology, serving several high technology industries such as
Aerospace, Flight Test, Automotive, Motor Sports and Industrial Processes.

Today I just concluded my portion of the journey with the
India High Tech Mission. While I regret that I won’t be traveling to Mumbai
with fellow delegates, the fact that most Kulite customers are in the Bangalore
area necessitates that I stay here and meet them individually. This trip is a
memorable experience for me, in what Kulite has achieved, as well as in the friendships
with other delegation members.

At the start of the mission Secretary Locke asked
delegates to evaluate the mission, and to identify the factors that made it a
success. I think the most important factor is the elevated profile that a
government delegation brings. With Secretary Locke we were able to listen to
several key Indian Ministers and hear their ambitious plans for India, and their
upbeat economic outlook. The US Commercial Service, being a government entity,
is also a valuable and effective resource. Case in point - on Tuesday, the
delegation met with the General Managers of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. After
listening to their presentation I requested a follow-on meeting with one of the
HAL divisions. The in-country staff located the contact point and developed a
meeting plan within two hours!

This mission brings tangible benefits to Kulite. I am able
to evaluate the market potential in a very short amount of time, and sees clear
business growth in the next two years. I would like to thank the entire DoC
team for their tireless effort putting this together. The seamless planning and
personal attention to each company is remarkable. Trade missions like this are
highly recommended, especially for small and mid-sized companies when resources
are limited.

Locke Meets with Chairman Tata, Minister of Defence A.K. Antony on the margins of Aero India

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke stressed the importance of innovation in the
U.S.-India trade relationship today in Bangalore with remarks and a discussion with students
and faculty at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) before officially opening
the U.S. Pavilion at Aero India 2011. Bangalore is the second stop of his
three-city high-technology business development trade mission with U.S companies
to India.

During the discussion at IISc, Locke interacted with
students, research scholars, and professors at one of India's premier
educational institutions for science and research. Locke discussed how India's
efforts to build a more open commercial environment will help empower the next
generation of Indian innovators to help solve some of the world's most pressing
problems like climate change, poverty and disease.

"I'm optimistic and confident the world is equipped to
deal with the challenges we face – and a big part of the reason is seeing young
people like you," said Locke. Because although these problems are daunting,
they do have solutions. Many of them can be solved with the science, math and
engineering skills that are taught and learned at IISC every
day."

The secretary added that unlocking the full potential of
IISc students and researchers, and indeed the entire U.S.-India trade
relationship, depended on India continuing to work towards "a regulatory
infrastructure that encourages the freer flow of ideas, people, and technologies
across its borders."

Ed note: Founded in 1993, Kent Displays, Inc. is a world leader in
the research, development and manufacture of Reflex™ No Power LCDs for unique,
sustainable applications including electronic skins, writing tablets,
smartcards and eReaders. Improv Electronics was formed in 2010 as the consumer
products subsidiary of Kent Displays. 2010 sales of its first product, the
Boogie Board™ LCD Writing Tablet, exceeded forecast by 10 times. Its paperless
LCD technology represents a significant opportunity to reduce global paper
consumption for everyday tasks such as memos, reminders, to do lists, sketching
and other writing and drawing activities.

Kent Displays is honored to be a representative on this
trade mission to India. It’s only a few days into the mission, and the benefits
of participating are already immeasurable. I cannot begin to express my
gratitude to the U.S. Commerce Department and Secretary Gary Locke for
organizing the trip and selecting Kent Displays for the business delegation.

Going into the trade mission, Kent Displays had limited
focus on the India market. We considered a greater focus in the past, but
decided that the upfront exploratory effort to “get the ball rolling in India”
would require a commitment beyond our available resources.

By participating in the mission, we hope to gain a better
understanding of its business, government and consumer dynamics. We also expect
to establish relationships with business and government leaders that would help
identify immediate and future business opportunities. In the final analysis,
this mission is the impetus for convincing us that now is the time to explore
business possibilities in India.

Locke’s first stop on his visit was Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd.’s (HAL) facilities. HAL is one of Asia’s largest aerospace companies,
employing approximately 34,000 people with roughly $2 billion in annual
revenue. The company has partnered with leading U.S. aerospace manufacturers –
Boeing, Honeywell, and Lockheed Martin – on several projects. The U.S export
content value for HAL is $40 to $50 million dollars annually with hundreds of
millions in future export opportunities.

Guest blog post by Alex Lintner, president and CEO of Intuit's Global Business Division

Ed. note: Intuit has focused on a simple
mission: to improve the financial lives of people so profoundly that they could
never imagine going back to the old way of doing things. By solving big
underserved problems, we have become woven into the financial lives of more
than 50 million small businesses and consumers worldwide. Readers from the United States
are most likely familiar with flagship brands: QuickBooks, Quicken and
TurboTax.

Intuit is proud to join U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary
Locke on the business development trade mission to India. It is an honor to represent
my company as we contribute to trade that creates jobs for people in both the United States and India.

On day one of the mission, I had the privilege of seeing
our impact firsthand. Secretary Locke joined us at a neighborhood grocery store
in South Delhi that was founded by an Indian national who “exported” his knowlege and experience from running a store in Utah back to
India
to build a successful business here in the Indian capital. Store manager Deepak Gupta provided a tour of
the shop, shared his goals for the business and shed light on how the store has
been marketing to the community. The purpose of the trip was to provide
Secretary Locke with a “behind-the-scenes” look at what went into developing
Intuit’s GoConnect, the new mobile marketing service we created to give small
businesses the power to increase visits from existing customers via
personalized, targeted mobile marketing campaigns that can be managed via the
Web or mobile phones. Using GoConnect, the store has seen a sales increase of seven percent and a concurrent decrease in marketing costs of 90 percent.